A football fan who needs a heart transplant after contracting meningitis as a newborn baby says he has been buoyed by the public's response during an awareness day at Sincil Bank.

Jim Lynskey, 22, and other Save9Lives campaigners drummed up support at the ground on Saturday, September 8 - where the Imps took on Crawley Town at 3pm - to potentially help nearly 6,500 patients awaiting a transplant in the UK.

They talked to fans in the Fanzone before the game and provided a guard of honour as players came out of the tunnel.

Sadly, the rain meant that supporters did not get the chance to win tickets for the next home in a football shoot out.

The plan had been to try their luck at kicking a ball through the number nine on a banner - which signifies the number of lives that one organ donor can potentially save.

Nethertheless, Mr Lynskey said he was pleased that the group had more than 50 people potentially get on board to register as organ donors.

He said: "We had 12 people who actually signed the organ donor register on the day who could maybe save more than 100 lives - and another 40 who took leaflets home with them.

"The weather was against us but we were pleased to have got people talking about it.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't a lucky mascot for Lincoln City who lost to Crawley but hopefully the club will ask me back for another game."

Jim Lynskey talked about this campaign on BBC Breakfast

The Sheffield Hallam University student Mr Lynskey was invited to Sincil Bank by Imps chief executive Liam Scully, whom he knows from his time at Doncaster.

Lincoln City FC is supporting Save9Lives throughout the 2018/19 season.

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In October 2017, by then near his expected three-year wait for a new heart, the pump suffered a fault.

The emergency surgery was unexpectedly complicated, took almost 13 hours and he was put into an induced coma for ten days, which overlapped his 22nd birthday

Jim Lynskey talking to fans before the game

Mr Lynskey, an NHS Organ Donation Ambassador who studies food marketing management, said: "I'm stable at the moment but having a heart transplant would give me a much better quality of life.

"I now live on batteries that last a maximum of eight hours. I cannot take a bath and I have to adapt my clothing to accommodate the bulky equipment I must carry with me at all times.

"Being diagnosed with heart failure was shocking, but I didn’t want to let it take over my life completely.

"I wanted to try and help myself and others in any way I could, so I began reading up about organ donation and transplant statistics.

"The results were extremely sobering: three people die each day due to lack of organs and there is an estimated three year wait for patients in my position.

"It was during my research that I first came across the fact that one donor can save nine lives.

"It stayed with me and eventually I turned it into this campaign."

He added: "I think it will be a little while until I get new heart. But I'm not the only one waiting for an organ transplant and the more people register to be donors, the more people could potentially be helped."

How to become an organ donor

Organs can be donated either following a person's death including kidney, heart, liver, lung, pancreas, small bowel, cornea, tissue and bone, or as a living donation, for example a kidney.

The NHS only uses organs from a donor with their consent or with their family’s consent after they die.

People who want to donate must join the NHS Organ Donor Register and tell family and friends that they have joined the register and want to be a donor so they can support the decision.

Everyone can join the NHS Organ Donor Register regardless of age, as long as they are legally capable of making the decision and live in the UK.

A person cannot be an organ donor if they are suspected of having conditions such as HIV or active cancer.

For more information about the campaign visit https://www.save9lives.com